User blog:NorthStar MLP/North Star's Guide to the Fae
((This article is written from North Star's point of view. In his own rambling, slightly insane words, he'll attempt to explain the customs, land and personalities of the fay.)) I want ya to do me a favor. Go up to four random ponies and ask them what they think of faeries. Odds are, you'll get six different opinions. They're evil monsters! They're steadfast and dour guardians of nature! They don't feel emotions! They break every guideline out there! Wrong, wrong, wrong and... Mostly wrong. For the first time ever, with the permission and guidance of Queen Titania herself and unrestricted by a 140-character limit, I'll give ya an insider's look at these strange, sparkly and yes, dangerous creatures. Part One: The Lands of Faerie What better place to start than the home of the fay? It goes by quite a few different names- Arcadia, the Feywilds, Tir na Nog- but let's stick with the most common name: Faerie. Ya might want to talk to Discord or that strange Doctor pony if you want more info on wibbly parallel world stuff... But to put it simply, Faerie is /not/ Equestria. Not even close. In fact, unless ya have a touch of fay mojo yourself or know where to find one of their magical faerie rings, good luck even getting there. If ya don't have permission to enter Faerie, I wouldn't even try. Entering Faerie without permission is a very good way to irritate every fay within subtweet distance, and nothing is more dangerous than an irritated faerie on their home turf. Let me make sure you understand- the fay do NOT like uninvited guests. But hey! That's why ya have me, yeah? Obviously, I can't give away ALL their secrets- I had to bribe Titania with delicious cookies just to write this- but I can tell you one thing: Faerie is unlike anything you've ever seen. Giant mushroom-trees stand tall over fields of blue grass. Dense forests, deeper and darker than the Everfree, hide small fay villages built into the trees. Multicolored rivers wind lazily through towns of glass and crystal. And as soon as ya blink... It all changes. Faerie is a chaotic land, always shifting just as you get used to it. Compasses are useless there. Maps are less than useless. Unless ya have a guide- or a chaotic personality to match the land- count on getting lost. Bottom line? Faerie is an unpredictable place, dangerous for the uninvited but beautiful beyond compare. It's where those bedtime stories ya heard as a foal come to life. Part Two: The Seelie Court There are two main kingdoms of faeries... Although calling them 'kingdoms' is really oversimplifying things. Whatever, kingdoms are shiny. ...Where was I? Right. Two main kingdoms: the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Each Court has their own queen, king, group of heralds and stewards, just like your typical pony kingdom, but that's where the similarities end. We'll cover the Seelie first. The Seelie Court, also known as the Summer Court, is ruled by Queen Titania and her consort, King Oberon. While every bit as mischevous and prideful as any fay, they're mostly harmless. If you can take a joke- and don't threaten them or their lands- ya don't have much to fear from the Seelie. From what I've seen of Oberon, he's a bit more secretive and tricksy than your usual faerie, and that's saying a lot. He keeps to himself and his own kind, really. Titania, on the other hoof? Well, there's a reason /she's/ in charge. While she might be tricksy and manipulative, she's better than any fay at seeing things from a pony's point of view. Rare trait for one of her kind. She's also as prideful as any faerie, and I fully expect to be turned into a squirrel for that comment. Other notable members of the Seelie Court include Puck and Celinette, the stewards to Oberon and Titania. Never met Puck, but I can tell ya a bit about Celinette. She might look adorable- and she really is- but there's nobody out there more protective of her queen. Celinette's earned her title, and I'm proud to call her a friend. You also have Syrinx, the royal huntress. While she can be a bit on the serious side, Syrinx is an incredibly skilled tracker, better than any pony I've known. Ya want a guide through the wilderness, Syrinx is your faerie The Seelie Court is also home to the faetouched and the heralds. The faetouched are simply ponies who have been directly exposed to a source of faerie magic. They have the Glamor to them, the favor of the fay and can pull off some neat tricks, but they're still ponies. The Heralds? That's where things get complicated. Also known as the Changed or the Lost, these are ponies who have been 'chosen' by a powerful faerie, taken to their lands and, for all intents and purposes, turned into a faerie. They might look like a pony, but their minds and personalities are all faerie. Stuck with their hooves firmly in both worlds, most "normal" ponies might see them as a bit... Crazy. I'm the Chosen of Titania, the Summer Knight and Herald of the Seelie Court. I also enjoy long walks on the beach and musical montages. Part Three: The Unseelie Court So! The fay are harmless pranksters as long as ya don't crash in unexpected, yeah? Wrong, pooky, ya also have the Unseelie. The two courts have a compact, and are mostly at peace. The Seelie rule for most of the year, but Winter? Winter is when the Unseelie come out to play~ Ruled by Queen Mab, the Unseelie are the dangerous side of an already kinda dangerous species. Get on their bad side and you'll have much worse to deal with than a few harmless pranks. I hope ya like your home covered in permafrost! I couldn't tell ya much about the Unseelie heralds or faetouched, but I've heard rumors of their king, Crow's Call. Never met him myself. Here's hoping I never do. There's a third group of fay: the solitary faeries. They don't swear allegiance to either court and may have even been banished from Faerie. They're obviously pretty rare, and I only know of three solitary faeries. Part Four: Dealing With Faeries Here's where things get tricksy. Faeries don't think like ponies, let's spell that out first. The two species feel many of the same emotions- love, loyalty, kindness, all that fluffy stuff- but a fay's morals and concept of these emotions is totally alien to a pony, and vice versa. Obviously, I can't tell ya what the fay are weak to or anything like that, but I can tell ya this. If ya find yourself on the wrong end of an angry faerie, PLAY TO THEIR PRIDE! Seelie or Unseelie, Steward or Herald, the fay are /very/ prideful, and nothing smooths over hurt feelings like a compliment or twelve. The opposite applies too, of course. Insult a fay and things are about to get interesting, and not in a good way. Honesty and loyalty are also very important to faeries. While they almost never outright lie, they /do/ bend the truth and confuse you with their words. It's a game to them, and nothing amuses them more than when a pony is able to play that game on their level! The BEST way to gain a faerie's favor is to help them in some way. Faeries remember every favor, and despite their chaotic nature, they're very loyal. They'll help ya out if ya help them out, although their idea of 'help' might be a bit different from yours. Hey, comes with the territory. So how do ya know if you're in good with a faerie? They'll give you their true name. Names are power to the fay, and their true names are kept secret, closely guarded and RIDICULOUSLY hard to pronounce... Unless ya speak Sylvan! Finally, let's talk about faerie magic. Your average fay is no more powerful than your average unicorn- and might even be a teensy bit weaker! While unicorns focus on fancy-dandy book magic, faeries draw their magic from nature. Some might say faeries ARE nature, or at least closely tied to it. There might be a bit of truth to this. The fay definitely seem to prefer the company of a nature-pony like Daisy, Roseluck or Fox Print over a more civilized pony. This makes your average Joe Unicorn much more flexible with their magic, but your basic faerie is more powerful in nature. Don't think they're helpless outside the woods, though! Fay are tricky, and this is their greatest strength. There are exceptions, though. Titania can throw a mean shapeshifting spell and her magic is obviously leaps and bounds ahead of other faeries. I've never seen Celinette cast a single spell. But that's the awesome thing about these unusual bug-winged sparklehorses: There's always an exception to every rule, even the ones they write themselves. Category:Blog posts